Virat Kohli speaks to Yuzvendra Chahal in 1st ODI
Virat Kohli may not be India’s captain any more but his tactics, energy and cricketing acumen was on full display in the first ODI against West Indies at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday. In the 20th over of the West Indies innings, leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal had just removed left-hander Nicholas Pooran for 18 with a beautiful leg-break that struck his front pad. Chahal had got his 100th wicket in ODIs, becoming the second fastest Indian spinner and the fifth fastest bowler overall among Indians to the milestone. Seeing West Indies captain Kieron Pollard walking out to bat, Kohli, standing at leg slip, was heard saying “ulta wala daal… bindaas daal” (Bowl the wrong one) to Chahal.
As it turned out, Chahal bowled a flighted googly to Pollard and the towering right-hander quite uncharacteristically went for a big heave and ended up getting an inside back onto his stumps. But Chahal wasn’t complaining. He had just got two-in-two to put India on top.
But what was another noticeable factor apart from Chahal’s trickeries, was the way Kohli celebrated Pollard’s dismissal. Even the commentators concluded that the prolific right-hander might have had a role to play.
Watch: Virat Kohli’s Plan That Scripted Kieron Pollard’s Downfall In 1st ODI
#INDvsWI #AskSportsTak@imVkohli is still actively involved in the game…Prompted something to @yuzi_chahal and @KieronPollard55 bowled on duck …???????????? pic.twitter.com/TTETvIfOzV
— Shashank Bhalekar (@TheShaStories) February 6, 2022
Kohli ran towards Chahal and was also seen celebrating with skipper Rohit as India took complete control of the match.
Happy To See Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s Celebration ????????❤️#INDvsWI @ImRo45 @imVkohli pic.twitter.com/DtC6TszaB1
— Shamji Ravichandran (@SmArTShAm3) February 6, 2022
Promoted
A couple of overs later, Kohli convinced captain Rohit to go for a DRS when the on-field umpire gave Shamarah Brooks not out despite there being a noise when the ball past the right-hander’s bat. Replays showed there was a clear spike in UltraEdge and Chahal and India got another wicket.
The leg-spinner returned with superb figures of 4 for 49 as India bowled West Indies out for 176 in just 43.5 overs. Another Indian spinner Washington Sundar, who is making a comeback to the side, finished with 3 for 30 while seamer Prasidh returned with 2 for 29.
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